Ventilating device for spaces in building



Feb. 7, 1967 H. KOHLMEYER 3,392,548

VENTILATING DEVICE FOR SPACES IN BUILDING Filed Dec. 30, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 75

I N VEN TOR.

1967 H. KOHLMEYER VENTILATING DEVICE FOR SPACES IN BUILDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 30, 1964 I NVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,302,548 VENTILATING DEVICE FOR SPACES IN BUILDING Horst Kohlmeyer, Bremervorde, Germany, assignor to Lohmann-Apparatebau K.G., Cuxhaven, Germany Filed Dec. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 422,166

Claims priority, application Germany, Dec. 30, 1963,

L 46,688 6 Claims. (CI. 98-33) stream flowing through the space may take the shortest path between the two openings and that large parts of the building-space will be insufficiently ventilated. This danger arises, in particular, when the two openings lie closely adjacent to one another. The stream of fresh air is then Within the zone of influence of the blower immediately after entry and may be at least partly entrained by the unavoidable air currents and will be drawn towards the outlet opening. This undesirable flow of fresh air hinders the operation of the ventilating device.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device, the use of which will enable fresh air to be led uniformly into a room or other space and will prevent the formation of undesirable currents directed towards the position of the outlet.

' In accordance with the invention this object is attained by means of a housing which is adapted for connection to the inlet opening and which has an outlet slot, the housing being further adapted to impart a predetermined stream-direction to the inlet air stream.

This housing may be constituted by a casing extending perpendicularly to the direction of flow and closed on all sides, or simply by a plate. I Preferably the part of the housing which leads to the slot has the form of a convergent air passage. With'this arrangement the fresh air stream is accelerated and quickly flows away from the region of the inlet position.

Preferably at least the lower part of the housing, which leads to the slot, is' slightly upwardly inclined relatively to the horizontal. In this way the fresh air stream is directed away from the inlet position.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the sides of the part of the housing which leads to the slot should be divergent. In a preferred construction the housing is open on at least one side and is adapted to be mounted with this part adjoining a wall or the ceiling of the building space. In this way the fresh air stream can be guided into the desired direction in a very simple manner, making use of the wall or ceiling as a guide-surface. When the air inlet openings are in a wall, the slot formed by the housing preferably extends over 180. This ensures that the air flows into the building-space uniformly in all directions, without an excessive tendency to flow in certain particular directions. The extent of the slot should be suited to the position of the inlet opening in any particular case and may amount, in the case of openings in one corner of the building-space, to a maximum of 90 and, in the case of air inlet openings in the ceiling, to a maximum of 360".

Furthermore, it is of importance that at least that part of the housing which leads to the slot should be adjustable in position, and in particular in height, as well ice as in cross-section. This enables ventilation to be controlled in a simple manner, in dependence upon the weather conditions.

In the case of devices for building-spaces in which the air inlet and air outlet openings lie adjacent one another, in the opening of a blower which draws air out of the building-space and which is surrounded by a casing, it is advantageous for the housing and the casing to be of unitary construction. This leads to a unitary device which can be manufactured in the factory and installed in the building-space with only the minimum labour costs and which can be removed from the building-wall again without any ill-effect on its usefulness.

Two particular embodiments of the invention will now be described more fully, by way of example only, with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through one such embodiment of ventilation device;

- FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the ventilation device shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section through another form of ventilation device; and

FIGURE 4 shows a plan view of the embodiment of ventilation device shown in FIGURE 3.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the ventilation device shown therein comprises a conduit 2, the length of which is suited to the wall-thickness of the building-space 1 and which is divided into an upper intake opening 5 for fresh air and a lower outlet opening 6 for exhaust air by a partition 4 which is preferably horizontal and projects 3 outwardly beyond thev building-wall 3. With such division it is possible for fresh air to be drawn through one, preferably the upper, half of the opening in the wall and for exhaust air to pass simultaneously to the exterior. A casing 7 is' arranged immediately adjacent the inside of the exhaust opening 6, in which casing a blower 8 is mounted horizontally. The blower 8 draws exhaust air out of the building-space 1 and drives it through the exhaust opening 6 to the exterior. Thus a slight underpressure is established in'the building-space 1, which leads to fresh air being drawn through the intake opening 5. A housing 9 is connected to the intake opening 5, which housing is open at its upper side which is directed towards the ceiling 10. With this form of device, which is mounted relatively closely beneath the ceiling 10, the ceiling serves I as a guide-surface for the air stream and makes possible very simple construction of the housing 9. It will be obvious that, with appropriate positioning of the ventilation device, the Walls or the floor of the building-space could be made to serve this function. The air stream entering through the intake opening 5 is directed slightly upwards relatively to the horizontal, towards the ceiling 10, by the air passage 11, which is formed by the housing 9 and the ceiling 10. After passing through the outlet slot 12, the fresh air stream flows beneath the ceiling 10 and it is hardly possible for it to be entrained or deflected by the unavoidable air currents 13 which arise in the region of the inlet position. In this way it is possible, despite the intake and exhaust openings being adjacent to one another, for the incident fresh air to remain outside the induction zone of the blower 8 and to be available to the fullest extent for the purposes of air-exchange. Between the housing 9 and the blower casing 7 there is a communicating opening or port 14 which preferably can be closed by an adjustable flap-valve 15. The valve 15 in the port 14 can be so constructed that when the port 14 is open the exhaust opening 6 is simultaneously closed. This enables adjustment between pure ventilation and almost pure circulation.

FIGURE 2 shows a plan view of the device described with reference to FIGURE 1 and illustrates particularly the edge 16 of the housing 9 which forms the slot. With this construction the slot extends over 180 but, as already mentioned, other slot-angles are possible, depending upon the position of the inlet opening.

Another constructional form of the housing 17 is shown in FIGURE 3. Whereas the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1 is mounted, in particular, closely beneath the ceiling, with the embodiment shown in FIGURE 3, the ceiling does not play any part as an air-guiding member. The device can therefore be installed at any desired depth beneath the ceiling. With the exception of the housing, the device is constructed in the same manner as the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1. The housing 17 is constructed in the form of an air-passage and extends to an outlet slot 12. In the air-passage 11 formed by the housing 17, the air stream has imparted thereto a direction which, as in the case of the first embodiment, is inclined upwardly relatively to the horizontal. Preferably the air-passage 11 becomes narrower as the distance away from the inlet opening increases, so that the air stream passing through the slot 12 has a higher velocity than the surrounding air currents directed towards the inlet position. This ensures that, with both embodiments, the fresh air stream can flow rapidly and uniformly away from the inlet position.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the ventilation device shown in FIGURE 3. According to this construction the sides 18 of the housing 17 which lead to the slot 12 are divergent and form an acute angle relatively to one another. This construction is advantageous when the air inlet opening is located at the narrow side of a long building-space.

It will be understood that many modifications of the embodiments which have been described and shown by way of example are possible within the scope of the appended claims, so as to facilitate adaptation to different shapes of building-spaces and to provide a greater or lesser ventilating or air-exchanging effect.

What I claim is:

1. A ventilation unit comprising a housing adapted to be mounted on the inside of a wall of a room to be ventilated associated with a wall opening defined in said wall, said housing having a fresh air intake opening extending over a first part of the cross sectional area of said wall opening, an outlet opening facing and opening into the interior of said room, a separation wall defining a first air passage between said fresh air intake opening and said outlet opening and extending into said wall opening, an exhaust opening extending over a second part of the cross sectional area of said wall opening, an inlet opening facing and opening into the interior of said room and arranged in said housing remote from said outlet opening, said separation wall also defining a second air passage between said exhaust opening and said inlet opening, a blower having a high pressure side and a low pressure side mounted in said second air passage for drawing a stream of air from said inlet opening to and out of said exhaust opening, said separation wall including a port communicating with said first and second air passages on said high pressure side of said blower, and adjustable valve means within said port, said outlet opening directing air ejected therefrom away from the air stream entering said inlet opening.

2. A ventilation unit comprising a housing adapted to be mounted on the inside of a wall of a room to be ventilated associated with a wall opening defined in said Wall, said housing having a fresh air intake opening extending over a first part of the cross sectional area of said wall opening, an outlet opening facing and opening into the interior of said room, a separation wall defining a first air passage between said fresh air intake opening and said outlet opening, and extending into said wall opening, an exhaust opening extending over a second part of the cross sectional area of said wall opening, an inlet opening facing and opening into the interior of said room and arranged in said housing remote from said outlet opening, said separation wall also defining a second air passage between said exhaust opening and said inlet opening, a blower having a high pressure side and a low pressure side mounted in said second air passage for drawing a stream of air from said inlet opening to and out of said exhaust opening, said separation wall including a port communicating with said first and second air passages on said high pressure side of said blower, and an adjustable flap valve defined in said separation wall at said port for movement between a first position which closes said exhaust opening to establish total recirculation, and a second position in which said valve closes said port to establish total ventilation, said outlet opening directing air ejected therefrom away from the air stream entering said inlet opening.

3. The ventilation unit of claim 2 wherein said separation wall extends beyond the outer surface of said wall.

4. The ventilation unit of claim 2 wherein said outlet opening is located adjacent a wall of said room to be ventilated to form with said adjacent wall an outlet slot for distributing the air leaving said outlet opening over a substantial area remote from said inlet opening.

5. The ventilation unit of claim 2 wherein said separation wall is arranged substantially horizontally, and said fresh air intake opening, said first air passage and said outlet opening are arranged vertically above said exhaust opening, said second air passage and said inlet opening.

6. The ventilation unit of claim 5 wherein said outlet opening comprises a slot provided at the end of an upwardly inclined outlet funnel defined at the end of said first air passage remote from said fresh air intake opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,666,519 4/1928 West 98-33 1,845,954 2/1932 Bird 9833 2,152,614 3/1939 Younger 9833 X 2,189,008 2/1940 Kurth 9833 2,212,050 8/1940 Samuelson 9833 2,467,018 4/ 1949 Eggleston 9833 2,995,077 7/1961 Kitson 98-33 MEYER PERLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A VENTILATION UNIT COMPRISING A HOUSING ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON THE INSIDE OF A WALL OF A ROOM TO BE VENTILATED ASSOCIATED WITH A WALL OPENING DEFINED IN SAID WALL, SAID HOUSING HAVING A FRESH AIR INTAKE OPENING EXTENDING OVER A FIRST PART OF THE CROSS SECTIONAL AREA OF SAID WALL OPENING, AN OUTLET OPENING FACING AND OPENING INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID ROOM, A SEPARATION WALL DEFINING A FIRST AIR PASSAGE BETWEEN SAID FRESH AIR INTAKE OPENING AND SAID OUTLET OPENING AND EXTENDING INTO SAID WALL OPENING, AN EXHAUST OPENING EXTENDING OVER A SECOND PART OF THE CROSS SECTIONAL AREA OF SAID WALL OPENING, AN INLET OPENING FACING AND OPENING INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID ROOM AND ARRANGED IN SAID HOUSING REMOTE FROM SAID OUTLET OPENING, SAID SEPARATION WALL ALSO DEFINING A SECOND AIR PASSAGE BETWEEN SAID EXHAUST OPENING AND SAID INLET OPENING, A BLOWER HAVING A HIGH PRESSURE SIDE AND A LOW PRESSURE SIDE MOUNTED IN SAID SECOND AIR PASSAGE FOR DRAWING A STREAM OF AIR FROM SAID INLET OPENING TO AND OUT OF SAID EXHAUST OPENING, SAID SEPARATION WALL INCLUDING A PORT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID FIRST AND SECOND AIR PASSAGES ON SAID HIGH PRESSURE SIDE OF SAID BLOWER, AND ADJUSTABLE VALVE MEANS WITHIN SAID PORT, SAID OUTLET OPENING DIRECTING AIR EJECTED THEREFROM AWAY FROM THE AIR STREAM ENTERING SAID INLET OPENING. 